Spirits
by Almaron
Summary: Set in Ddraigtanto's "Dragons Unite" fanverse. Using his powers as Chronicler, Ignitus educates Legion on some of the more confusing parts of his job, and also shows him the constants and variables of alternative universes...


Legion sighed. He had been dead for...more than seven years, he realised with shock, but he was still no closer to comprehending the many mysteries that Ignitus regularly discussed with him. When he had..."reawakened" after his death, Legion had assumed that he was an angel of sorts, although he had slowly come to realise that the truth was far more complicated than that. After he had revealed his existence to his beloved Natalie and Cynder in a time of great danger - an incredible abuse of his powers, as he'd subsequently discovered - Ignitus had begun slowly educating him on the mysteries of the spirit world, having acknowledged that Legion most likely wouldn't have made such a mistake if he had been better informed about the nature of his...position. Indeed, Ignitus had taken full responsibility for Legion's mistake and not punished him or stripped him of his powers, noting that it was his own fault for not ensuring that Legion had been appropriately educated before being set loose.

As such, Ignitus had been slowly educating him on the mysteries of the spirit world, and helping him to understand the nature of things, but Legion still remained woefully in the dark about certain elements of Ignitus' position. Part of him accepted this; his religious upbringing had taught him that there were things that he wouldn't ever be able to comprehend fully, but a small part of him still bristled at the thought that this knowledge was so close.

"What is it that confuses you, Legion?" Ignitus said, noticing his companion's puzzled expression.

"It's..." Legion paused. "I don't understand what you mean about spirits." On this day, Ignitus had elected to teach him about the nature of time. At first, Ignitus had explained to him that time was neither linear nor cyclical; instead it was helicular or "spiral-shaped" - something which Ignitus thought was oddly fitting, given the name of their purple savior - a concept that Legion was able to grasp easily, but then Ignitus had started talking about other worlds and how time led to their creation, and things like constants and variables, and then Legion had gotten quite lost.

"In the same way that certain events repeat themselves across time, certain spirits are drawn together in different realities." Ignitus said, as if he was reciting something that had been taught to him in youth.

"But what do you mean by that?" Legion said. "Are you saying that mates are drawn together by fate?"

"Not quite, Legion. It's more..." Ignitus paused. "It's a bit hard to describe, I'm afraid. Would you prefer it if I showed it to you?"

"Showed?" Legion said. "How?"

Ignitus grinned. "It's simple enough," he said, moving away from the centre of the room. The crystal on his chest suddenly began to glow, and a portal opened up before Legion's eyes.

Ignitus' abilities as Chronicler never ceased to amaze Legion. "What...what is this?" he asked, as they walked through the portal into what appeared to be another White Isle.

"Another time...another world." Ignitus said, nonchalantly. "One of many possible realities."

"Which sometimes can be completely different, although not in this case." a second Ignitus said, entering the room.

Legion jumped back in shock. "What the-?"

The second Ignitus chuckled. "Evidently your Legion gets surprised as easily as mine."

"So it would seem." Ignitus said, grinning at his doppleganger. "May we?" he added, gesturing at the bookshelves behind him.

"By all means," the second Ignitus said, stepping back, as an open book began to fly towards his counterpart.

"Let me see..." Ignitus began, as images began to form above the book. "Ah, here we are!"

Legion squinted at the scene before him; a family of dragons who looked very familiar, with a large black dragon at their head.

"That's-"

"Ddraigtanto." Ignitus said, nodding.

Legion frowned. "But she's-"

"Male?" Ignitus finished. "Yes. In this world, there was a train accident which complicated things."

"I don't understand." Legion said, as an image of a derailed train appeared in front of him.

"The day of the accident," Ignitus began, "Ddraig was set to travel to Drakenholm to meet with a group of dragons protesting against the misogynistic ways of Lord Har'Lan Mali. While there, she - or he, rather - was tricked into wearing the enchanted jewellery that ultimately turned her female."

Legion looked more closely at the damaged train. "So she never reached Drakenholm?"

Ignitus shook his head. "She was forced to reschedule. Before she could do so, however, Alexander Greywater saw the opportunity to press his claim to the throne once and for all, and rose up in revolt."

The figure of a green dragon in armour suddenly appeared, leading a menacing group of heavily-armed dragons towards what appeared to be the walls of Warfang.

Legion swallowed. "What...what happened to her?"

The second Ignitus stepped forwards. "_He_ won the war," the other Ignitus remarked, "But at a great cost." In front of Legion, the green dragon faded from sight, and a new image appeared; a vast field filled with the bodies of countless dead dragons.

"Good Lord..." Legion said, swallowing. Even during the height of the Maleforian Wars, he'd never seen so many slain dragons in a single place.

"Yes," the second Ignitus continued, "Alexander Greywater was promptly sentenced to life imprisonment and lived out the remainder of his days as a prisoner in his own estate. Ddraig remained the ruler of Avalar, but grew disatisfied with ruling after the pointless violence of the war and the conflict with Sekeolath, and eventually abdicated to Cynder once peace had been restored."

A silence fell across the room.

"It would be easy to assume that both Alexander and Ddraig's bitter outlook on life following this was the result of this war," Ignitus eventually said, "And while it certainly was shaped by that, it was made worse by the connection they shared."

"I don't understand." Legion said. "How are they connected?"

"You'll see." Ignitus said, smiling. "But first, we need to find another example." Ignitus bowed his head to his doppelganger. "Thank you for having us." he said, as his counterpart bowed back.

Ignitus turned to face Legion again. "Before we leave, there's something else you should know about this world, Legion." Ignitus said, summoning another book towards him.

"What?" Legion said, fearing the answer as images began to form in the air.

"This is-" Ignitus stopped. "Was the future that Cynder was once destined for."

Legion looked at the scene before him; a much older Cynder was sitting at a dinner table with Spyro, and a young human.

"What do you mean, 'was'?" he said.

"Cynder's future has changed too much for this future of hers to be a certainty. Ddraig's rule is too stable for her to ever consider abdicating, and with a son of her own blood, now, it is unlikely that Cynder will ever rule Avalar."

"What of him?" Legion said, pointing a foreclaw at the human being nuzzled by Cynder. "Who is that?"

"That is Ian." Ignitus said, as a new book drifted towards him. "A human orphan with draconic ancestry, adopted by Cynder as her own. However," Ignitus began, closing the book, "How many senseless deaths have been averted, with the Greywater Crisis ending before it ever had a chance to start?"

Legion looked more closely at the scene before him. "But he's far too young for-"

"Indeed he is." Ignitus said. "But the Greywater Crisis led to more wars and deaths; many of which will not happen now."

Ignitus continued, before Legion could interrupt. "Is it not plausible, then, that Ian will not be orphaned in this world? That he will grow up with a family that would have otherwise been a casualty of one of the many pointless wars of our old timeline?"

Legion frowned. "What do you mean? Don't you know?"

The figures slowly faded away. "I cannot tell." Ignitus said; shifting his wings in a draconic shrug. "Once it was certain that this was the path that your daughter would take, but now...too much has changed."

"Then they will never meet?" Legion said sadly, thinking of the happy look on his daughter's face.

"I didn't say that. The future is not set in stone, Legion; these events may still come to pass." Ignitus noted. "But it is far less certain that they will in this way now."

Before Legion could ask Ignitus more about this, the crystal on the elderly dragon's chest had begun to glow, and a new portal opened up in the room. "Our time in this realm is done," Ignitus said. "If you'll follow me, Legion?"

Unwilling to stay in such a strange realm, Legion quickly followed his master through the portal, and quickly found himself in another version of the White Isle; one which seemed strangely different, although Legion couldn't say why for sure.

As he attempted to figure it out, a pale blue dragoness approached them. Legion's jaw dropped.

"What-"

"May we, Ignitia?" Ignitus said to the blue dragoness.

His female counterpart - _Ignitia?_ Legion thought with amazement - bowed her head and stepped back, and a book floated off the shelf towards Ignitus and Legion.

As images began to form in the air above the book, Legion heard the sound of claws on stone behind him, and he turned around to see a white dragoness looking at him intently.

"Who-who are you?" Legion asked, despite feeling he already knew the answer.

The strange dragoness grinned back at him. "My name is Legion," she said. "And we are many." she added with a chuckle.

Despite his discomfort with meeting a dragoness who was both him and someone completely different at the same time, Legion couldn't help but laugh back.

"Legion?" Ignitus called. Legion turned back to look at the images, which now showed two familiar young dragons playing together.

"Spyro and Cynder?" Legion said, although he thought something was different about the purple dragon running alongside his daughter.

"A perfect example." Ignitus said, nodding. "You see..." Ignitus paused. "Some spirits are made of the same sort of...energy."

"Energy?"

"It's really more complex than that, but more than love ties them together." Ignitus said. "Spirits like these will feel themselves drawn to one another; sometimes as lovers, sometimes as friends. For instance," he said, gesturing at the purple dragon, "In this world, 'Spyra' was the Purple _Dragoness_ of Legend who defeated Malefor with the help of your daughter, her closest friend."

Legion looked more closely at the image of the two dragonesses playing together. "Are they lovers?" he asked.

"In this world? No, but they might be in another like this one." Ignitus remarked. "But this is my point. Regardless of which reality or time you are in, certain pairs of spirits are always closer to each other than they are to others."

"So they're 'soulmates', then?" Legion said.

"Not in the sense you're thinking." Ignitus replied. "While spirits like this can - and do - form intimate relationships with one another, they can have simpler bonds. They could be twins, for example, or perhaps a pair of good friends. And they could still form loving relationships with other dragons that are as strong; there is nothing that dictates that they have to be together. Do you understand?"

Legion frowned. "I...think I do. So Alexander and Ddraig are also one of these pairs? In all these worlds?"

Ignitus nodded. "They may only meet fleetingly in their lives, but there'll always be a subtle drive pulling the two together; either as friends or mates."

Legion paused in thought. "What would have happened if Ddraig had been friends with Alexander from the start? If the 'Crisis' had never happened?"

Ignitus smiled. "Shall we find out?" he said, as the crystal on his chest glowed, and a new portal opened up beside him. "It will be the last world; I promise." Ignitus said, noticing Legion's reaction.

Legion sighed, and after looking back at the strange dragonesses of the vastly different world, followed Ignitus through the portal. This world's version of the White Isle looked much more like the one he was familiar with, although for some reason it felt oddly empty to him.

"Have a look at this, Legion," Ignitus said, as more images began to form in the air above the book he had chosen; this time showing the old Throne Room of Warfang Manor. To his surprise, a red dragon sat crowned before the other dragons in the room, instead of Ddraig.

"Eve?" Legion asked.

"No, look more closely." Ignitus said, as the familiar figures of Ddraig and Alexander came into view behind the throne. "In this world, the Lucien line survived the battle of Warfang. King Gether fell, but Prince Taxid survived, and became King of Avalar."

Legion gulped. "Taxid 'the Foolhardy?'"

"Now, now, that's not fair." Ignitus remarked. "Taxid might not have been the ideal choice for ruler, but he did the best he could. And besides, in this world, he had two very clever dragons guiding his way to ensure he did what was right for Avalar."

Legion looked at Ddraig and Alexander, standing behind the young King as he spoke to the dragons of his court. Legion couldn't hear what was being said, but Ddraig and Alexander both seemed happy, so evidently it was something good.

"I think I understand now." he said after a while.

Ignitus smiled. "Very good." he said, closing the book, and sending it back to its place as he opened up the final portal.

"One more thing, Ignitus." Legion added.

"Hmm?" the elderly dragon said, turning back to face him.

"It's about Natalie," he began. "Is she...are we...similar spirits?"

Ignitus looked at him, an eyebrow raised. "Do you really need me to answer that for you, Legion?" he said.

"I-" Legion paused. Regardless of what the answer was, he knew it wouldn't change the way he felt about her. "No, I don't." he finally said.

Ignitus bowed his head at Legion in approval. "You're learning." He gestured towards the portal with his wing. "Shall we go home, then?"

"Yes, please." Legion said. Although Ignitus' teachings had been intriguing, at the end of the day, he preferred to focus on just one world...his own.


End file.
